Kevin Murphy on "Designing for Peak Power" in Electronic Design

“A major design goal for a mobile device is to maximize battery runtime,” writes Murphy. “Typically, the largest design efforts to achieve this involve minimizing standby power through careful selection and implementation of components with low quiescent power. An example of products that do this well are biometric sensors powered by energy harvesting. However, there should be an equal emphasis on designing for peak power, because an inability to support these peaks will result in premature battery replacement.”

Murphy lays out five design techniques that electrical engineers can use to dramatically increase battery runtime in devices that exhibit a pulsing behavior. Mobile devices are one category where peak power is much higher than standby power. Increasing runtime in these devices improves their usability and, ultimately, increases customer satisfaction.